Story:

Other Versions

1. Spotted On Google Street View: Half A Cat, a new species, perhaps

2. New Cat Species Found On Google Street View – < Link >

Analysis:

The messages show a picture of a mysterious two legged, half cat claimed to be captured on Google Street View. The cat is shown to have a small body with just two front legs, and without any ears. Although the picture appeared real and it went viral online, the story is not a fact; the picture is a photoshopped hoax creation.

The Original Picture

Some versions of this story called this a mysterious cat picture, supposedly spotted on Google Street View when the cat was wandering down a street in Ottawa, Canada. Yes, it is a fact that the (original) picture was taken in Ottawa, Canada, but rest everything is a hoax. The original picture of this cat, shared on Imgur.com is actually a normal four legged cat named Thumbelina, and it also has two ears. The picture was taken in the year 2003, around Parliament Hill, Ottawa, when the cat was walking across the Ottawa River. This was when Google Street View did not even exist – as it was launched in 2007.

Actual, Normal Cat

Photoshopped

If you see the original cat picture shown in the image section below, you will realize the picture in question is photoshopped by removing the two back legs, compressing its body, moving the tail to create a new back, and then removing the ears. But how could the above picture make it into Google Street View? Well, the website shown in the story above is NOT that of official Google Street View. It is not affiliated with Google, and also publishes user submitted pictures. The present picture of two legged half cat is submitted by the admin of the website under the name ‘Google Street View Guy’, who later added a message updating that it is fake.